Ashley Lazarre is a Houston-based storyteller and content creator who is an indomitable force in the fight for global justice and Black women’s empowerment. Born in Haiti, this powerhouse brings a whole new groove to the intersection of activism, academia, and style. Ashley isn’t just breaking barriers; she’s rewriting the rulebook with a whole lot of slay!
As a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Massachusetts Boston studying Global Inclusion & Social Development, she hopes to build a career that “empowers vulnerable groups to overcome collective trauma through storytelling” and contribute to post-disaster management by collaborating with governments and international NGOs.
Ashley’s story is a blend of brains, beauty, and boldness. Tired of the same old social justice jargon, she discovered the game-changer—online platforms that pulse with real stories. So, what did she do? She took control of her own narrative and has garnered more than 16,000 followers on Instagram and thousands more on TikTok.
The Defender spoke with Lazarre to learn about her work as a content creator.
Defender: How did your interest in the arts, particularly fashion and storytelling, start?
Lazarre : I’m from Haiti. And my mom, although I didn’t grow up with her, I always remember her being the most dressed in the room. Whenever she went somewhere, people were always so amazed by her fashion. She also had a clothing store with my name called Ashley Boutique. Although I was young then, I knew nothing about fashion, but she always dressed me nicely. And I think that kind of stuck with me. When I moved to the US, I felt like, although I didn’t know how to speak English, people could always identify me based on what I was wearing. I was always the girl who was maybe quiet but would always show up. My style would speak before I did. I was a bit shy, but based on how I dressed, you would say that this girl was the most confident in the room.
It was also school and social media, Instagram specifically, that played a role. I remember I’ve always known that I wanted to do global work. I’ve always known that I wanted to work with some kind of international organization. Then, I got into my PhD program, which basically focuses on that. It focused on international organizations like the UN, USAID and their work in developing countries. At the time, I said, “I’m from Haiti. I see what the UN is doing back home, and it’s none of the stuff you guys are saying in these books.”
At the time, I think Instagram was fairly fresh. Then there was a Haitian blogger called Mama Cax, who was really famous. I really started to lean towards her form of activism. I love how she showed up and encouraged people to wear prosthetic legs in a fashionable way. And it was really using her platform to speak about disability rights and Black women. I felt like a student in the background watching her, slowly disconnecting from the traditional way of social justice. And I was leaning more towards the new way of things she was doing, or other women are doing online, using that platform and their voice. She’s always been the model that brought me to my current path.
Defender: How was the journey of professionally showing up as your authentic self?
Lazarre : I started to feel a deep disconnection with Boston during the pandemic. And I think at the time, too, I was a bit depressed. I’ve lived in Boston for 14 years and still don’t feel like it’s home. And I feel like that really bothered me, that a place that I’ve spent, the other half of my life in other than Haiti, and I still can’t call Boston home. Like, I would go to school, and I’ll feel like I have to put on a mask. For example, if I wanted to wear jeans and a T-shirt and some nice boots, I would have to opt out for something more traditional because I’m among other future doctoral students who have that kind of mentality.
The people around me didn’t have an open mind where I could show up how I truly wanted to be. I came to visit Texas while I was studying for my Ph.D. exam in Austin. While I was there, I just kind of felt unrestricted. I don’t know how to explain it. For the first time, I felt like I could be myself because Houston is a Black city. And I feel in Boston, although there is a majority of Blacks there, it just wasn’t the same.
I’ve always felt like, because I knew I was this smart girl, I had to tone down my fashion in Boston so that people didn’t misinterpret who I was. Once I moved to Texas, I felt these boundaries no longer existed.
Defender: How does healing play a role in your creative endeavors?
Lazarre : Even with me being on social media, I find that some of my best creative work has happened at the peak of my healing journey, where I’m home, crying my eyes out, and then I feel a little better. I’ll edit and post a video, which will do extremely well. And I’m like, wow, people don’t even know. I just got out of a therapy session, or I had a panic attack for the past couple of days. It wasn’t until I started working on a storytelling project with my dissertation mentor that I realized that the reason why I was always so depressed and sad throughout my Ph.D. process was that I didn’t include my creativity.
I think being unable to be creative and sticking to strict traditional academia took the passion out of what I wanted to do. When I took a break, I started to use my TikTok to talk more about my healing journey and what it’s like to grow up being abandoned and not with my family, not knowing where my mom was, and reconnecting with her again, and almost losing her at the Haiti earthquake. I was always afraid, pushed myself to talk about these things, and told myself I would be happy even if it were just one person who sees this video.
Defender: Black History Month celebrates resilience, achievement, and cultural contributions. How do you see your work contributing to this narrative?
Lazarre : My whole mission of showing up as myself and deciding, When, I think about 10 years ago, I stopped using a perm, I stopped straightening my hair, wearing weaves. Nothing against that. Through my healing journey, it brought me closer to my roots. This is who I am. I don’t wanna feel shame about the stuff that I love. I love braids. I’ve always loved braids, so I don’t wanna feel like it’s inappropriate in any room. And I think my thought process was to start showing up as who I wanted to see.
I started going viral over my braided hairstyles late last year. I’ve received over a hundred pictures from women worldwide recreating the hairstyle and started wearing it to work, weddings, and other places. That makes me really happy because I’m so glad I could use my platform to show people these hairstyles for photo shoots and art.
You shouldn’t let anybody tell you how to show up in the room. These hairstyles used to be worn by queens in Nigeria and parts of West Africa. So there was never any shame there. The shame came because someone put it in our heads. It’s our job to redefine that shame.
Defender: Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the intersection of your academic and creative endeavors?
Lazarre : Now that I’ve taken a break to explore my creativity, I definitely don’t see the academic side without creativity. I would love to create documentaries of Black women, sharing stories of how they use different modalities to heal. Not just in the US but also abroad. I would love to live in West Africa; that is a dream. With my doctorate degree, my dream is to be a diplomat, representing in Haiti when I live in West Africa. But I would also love to explore and keep modeling.
